Water standards

[fgregg]

http://www.ipcb.state.il.us/COOL/External/CaseView.aspx?case=13363
http://www.ipcb.state.il.us/cool/external/CaseView.aspx?case=13842
http://www.ipcb.state.il.us/cool/external/CaseView.aspx?case=13843
http://www.ipcb.state.il.us/COOL/External/CaseView.aspx?case=13844
http://www.ipcb.state.il.us/COOL/External/CaseView.aspx?case=13845
http://www.ipcb.state.il.us/COOL/External/CaseView.aspx?case=14594

[fgregg]

http://www.epa.gov/region5/chicagoriver/

[fgregg]

If I understand correctly, the effluent standard for the green parts are 400 fecal coliforms colony forming units (CFU) per 100 mL. http://www.ilga.gov/commission/jcar/admincode/035/035003040B02240R.html

There is no standard for the purple parts but around 1000 is kind of typical http://www.environmental-expert.com/Files%5C5306%5Carticles%5C13792%5C452.pdf

[fgregg]

http://www2.epa.gov/enforcement/metropolitan-water-reclamation-district-greater-chicago-settlement

[fgregg]

Dropped Pin
near Elk Grove, IL
http://goo.gl/maps/H2HXu

[fgregg]

Health Risks of Limited-Contact Water Recreation
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111026122408.htm

[fgregg]

UAA
http://www.csu.edu/cerc/documents/ChicagoAreaWaterwaySystemUseAttainabilityAnalysisUAA-November2004.pdf

Proposed standards of 1030 cfu/100ml of E.Coli for limited contact recreation and 2740 for recreational contact.

*Limited Contact Recreation
Incidental or accidental body contact, during which the probability of ingesting appreciable quantities of water is minimal, such as, recreational boating (kayaking, canoeing, jet skiing), and any limited contact incident
to shoreline activity, such as wading and fishing

*Recreational Navigation
non-contact activities including, but not limited to pleasure boating and commercial
boating traffic operations.

[fgregg]

General use fecal coliform standard
http://www.ilga.gov/commission/jcar/admincode/035/035003020B02090R.html

[andreweskeclarke]

It appears that Illinois and the EPA have the same Fecal coliform standard, a maximum of 400 cfu/100mL for any one sample, but an overall geometric mean of 200 cfu/100mL.

It's strange that we stop getting E coli measurements from MWRD even though "EPA's 1986 guidance recommended that states use E. coli as the primary freshwater pathogen indicator applicable to recreational uses" as opposed to fecal coliform measurements. If we were to predict E. coli, the EPA recommends limits of "126 cfu/100 mL (geometric mean) and 235 cfu/100 mL (single sample maximum or 10% of observations)" (http://www.environmental-expert.com/Files%5C5306%5Carticles%5C13792%5C452.pdf)

As for secondary usage (boating etc, no submersion):
"EPA has not provided clear guidance on the
establishment of secondary contact recreation criteria for E. coli, but does indicate that criteria
that are five times higher than the primary contact criteria may be acceptable (EPA 2003). This
“five times” approach is often used with fecal coliform, where states use 1,000 (geometric mean)
and 2,000 cfu/100 mL (single sample or 10% of samples) for secondary contact instead of the
200 and 400 cfu/100 mL used for primary contact"

[andreweskeclarke]

A article about reducing bacteria/microbes in urban waterways.
http://www.northinlet.sc.edu/training/media/resources/Microbes&Watersheds%20Ways%20to%20Kill%20Em.pdf